Scotland v Italy thread

[hugh_woatmeigh]

My MOTM was WP Nel. I know that various assorted vest wearers will say that Hogg and Russsel created opportunities blah feckin blah, but Nel got through a power of work and created a baseline of power and possession that the quiche eaters built on.
I enjoyed that. Let's move n from here.

Probably would have been in with a shout if he hadn't got carded.

[Briggs75]

My MOTM was WP Nel. I know that various assorted vest wearers will say that Hogg and Russsel created opportunities blah feckin blah, but Nel got through a power of work and created a baseline of power and possession that the quiche eaters built on.
I enjoyed that. Let's move n from here.

Nel also got carded for being a f"cking moron.

To be fair, he was chin strapped at the time and prob should have been subbed about 10 mins before.

[Argus]

Given the opportunity to fuck it all up, Scotland decline. How selfish.

Tell you what, that's some avatar you've got there.

[scotinglos]

It wasn't perfect but it was very well deserved. Actually winning a 6N match will be a huge shot in the arm for the likes of Russell, Seymour was excellent once again. France next up is a totally different challenge but not an insurmountable one.

Well though Laidlaw played, I felt a bit for Parisse on the MOTM award, It was the least he deserved for his day's work.

[Mikey Brown]

This Laidlaw situation is ridiculous to be honest, but he showed some moments of real composure and some real tempo today that made a big difference. I'm very happy for him to get that win.

[Spiffy]

I think Italy are just that bad. Other teams will take full advantage of free ball in our half after conceding a penalty kick, yellow cards, missed tackles galore & consistent offences in the danger zone. Parisse seemed to stop talking to Peyper around 15-20 mins for some reason, other captains would have been in his ear about the crap we got away with that close to our try line.

I don't think Italy are THAT bad, they play some good rugby.

Agree. They just have some problems putting it together for 80 mins. Parisse and Campagnaro outstanding.

[Big D]

Good win away from home. Some very good stuff and some bad stuff but in many ways whilst performance is important, Saturday was all about winning.

The starting tight 5 got through a power of work, led by Gray Jnr. The set piece was good, particularly the scrum and the line out on our 5 after Russell missed touch on a pen. That was the type of line out we'd have screwed up on another day.

Wilson was decent, mixes good things with missing yet more tackles.

Laidlaw, to his credit, was very good although not MOTM in my opinion. That makes his crap games even more frustrating.

Hogg looks great again, far and away the best FB of this 6N so far.

Nice subtle bit of play by Visser to Hogg in the lead up to Barclays try too. He hasn't been noted as having good hands.

Few concerns, defensively 5 players missed multiple tackles. Hardie and Horne missed 7 between them, over a third of all our missed tackles. Even allowing for the massive volume of attempts 4 tackles is too many for Hardie to miss. Not a good look for Horne to be missing 75% of his tackles either. He is a good bench option and his defence has gotten better so hopefully just one of those days.

The 10, 12, 13 hasn't clicked yet. I think Taylor is the prototypical Sarries player, solid and dependable but I think we'd look more threatening with Dunbar or Scott in there.

[sharvey44]

I think I drank my body weight in Italian beer on Saturday.

Wife wasn't overly impressed with the antics, hey-ho.

Will definitely do the Rome trip again, if she lets me and the Italians have forgotten me.

[Croft_No.5]

Most excellent weekend in Rome. So much better for the Rugby than Paris.

Very impressive performance. Laidlaw was much improved. Looked like we wants to pay with tempo the whole game. One excellent moment was his decision to call a mark under the posts and then to take the 5m scrum. Very good decision making.

The scrum throughout was excellent with the Grays playing very well. Would have gone for Nel as MOTM too. Can we follow this up in a couple of weeks time? Hoping the French don't up their game until the final weekend.

I will definitely be back in 2yrs time.

[Big D]

Very impressive performance. Laidlaw was much improved. Looked like we wants to pay with tempo the whole game. One excellent moment was his decision to call a mark under the posts and then to take the 5m scrum. Very good decision making.

The mark wasn't given, they can only be called for clean catches. The ensuing play led to visser being isolated around the 22 and us being lucky the ref hadn't given advantage over.

[Croft_No.5]

Ah thanks. Was unsure what had really happened from the other end of the stadium! A knock on then. Scratch my last comment then. Laidlaw was rubbish!

[Big D]

Ah thanks. Was unsure what had really happened from the other end of the stadium! A knock on then. Scratch my last comment then. Laidlaw was rubbish!

I thought he outcaptained Parisse on Saturday, spoke to the ref a lot better (sometimes with the help of other prompting) and made the right decisions.

[Mikey Brown]

I saw Hardie drop off a couple, I didn't realise there were more. But the effect he has charging around like that is great, even if he misses some. For me, he and Barclay gel really well. He does a lot of the abrasive stuff you might want from a 6 and Barclay is a good link man, jumper and another threat at the breakdown.

I really hope one of the big boys at 8/20 sort their game out so we don't have to turn to Cowan, Wilson or Harley anymore.

I'm struggling to assess Richie Gray. He's not the presence he was, but perhaps a more mature player? He certainly seems to be part of a very solid front 5. Johnny is a f**king machine.

[Big D]

I'm struggling to assess Richie Gray. He's not the presence he was, but perhaps a more mature player? He certainly seems to be part of a very solid front 5. Johnny is a f**king machine.

Part of a dominant scrum, win his line out ball, stole a quarter of their line out ball, has an huge defensive work rate and on Saturday he actually made a couple of big clear outs. He did have two poor moments that I remember; getting held up in a tackle and a poor clear out where the tackle was right at his feet and he couldn't clear the man.

As many people suspected I do think he is getting better with games in his legs. But he needs to build on the performances.

On another note. Castro has been cited for a stamp on Taylor.

[Big D]

I'm struggling to assess Richie Gray. He's not the presence he was, but perhaps a more mature player? He certainly seems to be part of a very solid front 5. Johnny is a f**king machine.

Part of a dominant scrum, win his line out ball, stole a quarter of their line out ball, has an huge defensive work rate and on Saturday he actually made a couple of big clear outs. He did have two poor moments that I remember; getting held up in a tackle and a poor clear out where the tackle was right at his feet and he couldn't clear the man.

As many people suspected I do think he is getting better with games in his legs. But he needs to build on the performances as doing it against Italy is fine but bigger games lie ahead.

Yeah Jonny is a beast. 2nd row for the lions will be a great fight.

On another note. Castro has been cited for a stamp on Taylor.

[BigAl]

Richie is also playing more like an actual second row now. I often wondered why he was seagulling out on the wing. Sure it looked good when he got the ball in space but he had no business being there in the first place.

[Mikey Brown]

Richie is also playing more like an actual second row now. I often wondered why he was seagulling out on the wing. Sure it looked good when he got the ball in space but he had no business being there in the first place.

Funny you say that. I was just thinking how much I take Al Dickinson for granted, he used to be a good runner and that was about it. With Chunk gone and Grant/Reid being questionable we're quite lucky.

[Wylie Coyote]

Richie is also playing more like an actual second row now. I often wondered why he was seagulling out on the wing. Sure it looked good when he got the ball in space but he had no business being there in the first place.

Funny you say that. I was just thinking how much I take Al Dickinson for granted, he used to be a good runner and that was about it. With Chunk gone and Grant/Reid being questionable we're quite lucky.

It's true actually. A few years back most of us dismissed him as a prop who just simply couldn't scrummage. The rule change helped but he has really developed too. Good on him.

[switchskier]

Finally managing to watch the game and decided that I want McInally to start against France.

20 minutes in, we've just scored two good tries and from a Russell turnover have great field position on their 22 meter line. At this point a really good team would put the game to bed. Secure possession and crank the pressure up.

We give it away by not throwing in straight and then giving away a penalty at the scrum. That's why we lose games and lapses in concentration like that that need eradicated.

[Mikey Brown]

I have a lot of hope for him and am tempted too, but bas he shown anything? He's got another level in skill and physicality to Ford but is it therebat this level? I hope it will be.

[hp18]

Finally managing to watch the game and decided that I want McInally to start against France.

20 minutes in, we've just scored two good tries and from a Russell turnover have great field position on their 22 meter line. At this point a really good team would put the game to bed. Secure possession and crank the pressure up.

We give it away by not throwing in straight and then giving away a penalty at the scrum. That's why we lose games and lapses in concentration like that that need eradicated.

Yes, because Rambo would have fixed that


Ford has his problems, but McInally showed little in his time on the field.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Finally managing to watch the game and decided that I want McInally to start against France.

20 minutes in, we've just scored two good tries and from a Russell turnover have great field position on their 22 meter line. At this point a really good team would put the game to bed. Secure possession and crank the pressure up.

We give it away by not throwing in straight and then giving away a penalty at the scrum. That's why we lose games and lapses in concentration like that that need eradicated.

McInnally got driven back both times he carried the ball on the field.

[switchskier]

Finally managing to watch the game and decided that I want McInally to start against France.

20 minutes in, we've just scored two good tries and from a Russell turnover have great field position on their 22 meter line. At this point a really good team would put the game to bed. Secure possession and crank the pressure up.

We give it away by not throwing in straight and then giving away a penalty at the scrum. That's why we lose games and lapses in concentration like that that need eradicated.

Yes, because Rambo would have fixed that


Ford has his problems, but McInally showed little in his time on the field.

Besides the point, it's about a change in mentality that lapses like that are crucial and need to be eradicated. I'm not saying banish Ford forever, just that was a huge mistake that can't be repeated against France.

[Big D]

Finally managing to watch the game and decided that I want McInally to start against France.

20 minutes in, we've just scored two good tries and from a Russell turnover have great field position on their 22 meter line. At this point a really good team would put the game to bed. Secure possession and crank the pressure up.

We give it away by not throwing in straight and then giving away a penalty at the scrum. That's why we lose games and lapses in concentration like that that need eradicated.

Yes, because Rambo would have fixed that


Ford has his problems, but McInally showed little in his time on the field.

Besides the point, it's about a change in mentality that lapses like that are crucial and need to be eradicated. I'm not saying banish Ford forever, just that was a huge mistake that can't be repeated against France.

It's not beside the point really. You have picked out one mistake as a sign his poor mentality when in fact his core hooking skills actually held up pretty well on Saturday when they could easily have failed. IIRC it was Dickinson that lost the penas. So using that example would you have been calling for Finns head if Ford had overthrown the lineout on our 5? After all it was he who missed touch with a penalty in the play preceding Italy kicking to touch. In actual fact that lineout is exactly the type of situation where it could easily go tits up and Ford/Gray nailed an effective line out.

Ford has faults, and ideally would be under a lot of pressure for his place but McInally has done nothing in his appearances so far. In fact his carrying on Saturday was worse than Fords. Ford has also done several good things, he is part of a very solid scrum, his line outs, bar one was very good on Saturday and as yet he is one of the very few Scots not to miss a tackle in this 6N despite a decent workrate.

[AL.]

Busted....

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby-uni ... -1-4041758